Participant information for survey respondents

I would like to invite you to take part in a survey as part of a research study. Before you decide to participate, you need to understand why the research is being done and what participation involves.

Please take time to read the following information carefully. If you have any questions or would like more information, do not hesitate to contact me via email (el.crabtree@tcd.ie).

Name of study: How do graduates perceive the value of doctoral degrees in languages?

Lead researcher: El Crabtree, Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow, Trinity College Dublin. I currently research researcher education but my doctoral degree was in languages – Italian Studies at the University of St Andrews.

Background of research: The research is seeking to develop a better understanding of the impact of doctoral study in humanities fields such as languages on the individuals who complete them.

Procedures of survey participation:

• The survey should take around 30 minutes to complete.
• The survey is divided into parts:

• Yes/no and multiple-choice questions to confirm eligibility
• Yes/no and multiple-choice questions about factors which may affect doctoral value perception (your educational background and activities since graduation)
• Free-text questions about how valuable (or not valuable) your doctorate has been to you, in relation to your career, community and social life, and personal identity/sense of self.
• Questions about gender, national background, ethnicity and disability
• Question asking for interest in a follow-up interview

• You will be able to save a copy of your responses at the end of the survey

Consent:

• Participation in this study is completely voluntary. You will not be financially reimbursed for your participation.
• You have the right to refuse participation, refuse any question, and withdraw at any time while completing the survey. If you do not wish to answer any of the questions, leave it blank.
• Because you will not be identifiable in your survey responses, you will not be able to redact or edit them after submitting the form at the end.

Possible benefits: You will be contributing data that may help aspiring and current doctoral graduates to make more informed decisions about their doctorate and their plans after graduation.

Confidentiality: Survey questions do not intend to collect any personally identifiable information. However, because the data is specific to you and the population under study is relatively small, there remains a minimal chance that you could be identified by the details of the data. The digital form will also record your personal internet protocol (IP) but this will not make you identifiable to the researcher.

Data protection: All completed forms will be downloaded and stored securely on the lead researcher’s encrypted Trinity College Dublin laptop and password-protected once saved. They will not include any identifiable information. They will be deleted 5 years after completion of the research (in August 2030). If, at any point, you wish to make a complaint or escalate an issue relating to your data rights, you can contact the Trinity College Data Protection Officer (dataprotection@tcd.ie).

Dissemination of findings: Findings resulting from data gathering and analysis may be published in articles and blogs, shared in conference papers, and adapted for career-advice resources for those currently doing doctorates in the humanities. These outputs will not include any identifiable information about participants.

If you have any questions about the research, please do not hesitate to contact me via email (el.crabtree@tcd.ie).

THANK YOU!